CSU students still motivated to practice health behaviors

Throughout the semester, the Social Norming Task Force has produced a string of graphics displayed across campus and online to encourage public health behaviors.

The social norms marketing has featured CAM the Ram promoting face coverings, hand washing, small gatherings, and staying at home while sick, among other public health behaviors. The task force used a social norms marketing strategy to develop the campaign, relying on statistics from the July survey.

In the mid-semester survey, the task force found a majority of students had seen the social norms messages, with more than 90% of students seeing the initial face covering messages unveiled around Move-In Week.

Laura Giles, associate executive director of housing and dining services who co-leads the Social Norming Task Force with Donovan, expressed appreciation for the task force’s efforts throughout the semester. She also stressed the importance of using data to guide the strategy.

“Without these data points, we don’t have a foundation for the norming behaviors,” Giles said. “It’s really critical.”

Additionally, the task force hosted focus groups with students and faculty facilitated by Donovan and Elizabeth Williams, an associate professor in the Department of Communication Studies.

Donovan said faculty in the focus group were extremely positive about how students were following the behaviors in the classroom and on campus.

“Two faculty members who bike to campus, said they stop at Elizabeth Street to put their masks on before coming onto campus … out of peer pressure ‘because everyone wears a mask on campus,’” Donovan said in reference to the salience of the campaign’s messaging.

The Social Norming Task Force came out of the Student Life Recovery and Continuity Workgroup, one of the groups executing President Joyce McConnell’s COVID-19 recovery plan.

Workgroup members Karen Estlund, dean of Libraries, and Blanche Hughes, vice president for Student Affairs, led the charge for the task force.

Throughout the semester, the Social Norming Task Force has presented its findings and messaging across the campus to key constituencies.

Based on the support, the Social Norming Task Force will continue during the spring semester and continue to focus on the norming behaviors following public health guidance, with some new marketing strategies and imaging.